Key Takeaways
- The Independent Community Bankers of America sued the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on October 2, 2026, arguing the agency exceeded the authority Congress granted it.
- The complaint says the OCC approved 21 trust banks during the Trump administration, at least 13 of them crypto companies.
- The ICBA wants a federal court to strike the OCC's final rule and Interpretive Letter 1176 and return the agency to what it calls its statutory limits.
The Independent Community Bankers of America sued the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on October 2, 2026, in federal court in Washington, arguing the agency exceeded its authority by granting national trust bank charters to crypto firms. The complaint says the OCC has approved 21 trust banks during the Trump administration, at least 13 of them crypto companies.
What the complaint and the OCC's charter numbers show
Independent Community Bankers of America is a trade association that represents community banks, the vast majority of them holding fewer than $10 billion in assets and many with less than $2.5 billion. Rebeca Romero Rainey is its president and chief executive and is leading the suit.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenges the OCC's Interpretive Letter 1176 and a final rule published March 2, 2026. According to the filing, the OCC has approved, conditionally or otherwise, 21 trust banks during the Trump administration, and at least 13 of those banks are crypto companies. That means at least 62 percent of the trust banks the agency chartered in that period went to crypto firms, a share neither the agency nor the complaint stated directly. The complaint names the Comptroller, Jonathan V. Gould, among the defendants and points to the agency's conditional approval of the crypto firm Protego as an example.
Why the trust-charter fight could reshape crypto banking
The case turns on who gets the credibility of a federal bank charter without the duties that come with one. "American consumers reasonably expect a federally chartered bank to carry federal protections," Rebeca Romero Rainey said. She said the trade group wants the court to rein the agency in. "ICBA is asking the court to return the OCC to its statutory limits," Rainey said.
A national trust charter matters most to stablecoin issuers. State-qualified issuers are capped at $10 billion in outstanding stablecoins, so a firm that wants to operate at a larger size has an easier path with a national trust charter from the OCC. The complaint argues the result is a class of federally chartered banks that avoid the capital, liquidity and deposit-insurance rules that apply to community banks. "This vast expansion of power creates a gaping hole in financial regulation," the Independent Community Bankers of America said in its complaint. The dispute is over how crypto firms that hold customer assets enter the banking system and under what supervision.
People Also Ask
Why is the ICBA suing the OCC?
The Independent Community Bankers of America is suing the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency because it says the agency exceeded the authority Congress granted it by chartering national trust banks for crypto firms. The ICBA argues in its October 2, 2026 lawsuit that the National Bank Act does not authorize the OCC to grant these charters.
How many crypto firms received national trust charters?
According to the ICBA lawsuit, the OCC approved, conditionally or otherwise, 21 trust banks during the Trump administration, and at least 13 of them are crypto companies. That is at least 62 percent of the trust banks the OCC chartered in that period.
What is a national trust bank charter?
A national trust bank charter is a federal charter the OCC grants to institutions that perform fiduciary activities, such as holding and managing assets for others. The ICBA argues the OCC is using it to let crypto firms conduct non-fiduciary business without the capital, liquidity and deposit-insurance rules that apply to community banks.
Who leads the ICBA?
Rebeca Romero Rainey is the president and chief executive of the Independent Community Bankers of America. She is leading the trade group's October 2, 2026 lawsuit against the OCC over the 21 trust charters it granted, at least 13 of them to crypto firms.
Sources: American Banker, CourtListener.